The Big Rescue

See this dog? She's an idiot.

I always talk about how dumb Comet is... but I'm beginning to think I have it wrong. Maybe Comet really IS the smart one of the two (or more likely, they're both idiots).

See, Lizzie is an escape artist. If she sees an opportunity (like Avery standing with the door open for 1.3 seconds), she's outta here! Comet loves to go outside, too, but he seems to have no desire to leave home or the people who feed him. He is always out in the yard with us, and STAYS in the yard with us... all you have to do is say "Comet!" if he gets two steps away, and here he comes, lumbering toward you with his tongue hanging out... looking for love and approval. Smart dog.

Lizzie, on the other hand, breaks free and takes off... for what, I have no idea. I'm not sure WHAT she thinks she'll find out there that she doesn't have here. But, like I said, she's DUMB.

This afternoon, Avery was trying to join Nick outside... he was shoveling the driveway and she wanted to go play in the snow. When she opened the door, however, Lizzie was right there waiting... and took full advantage of the situation. She took off like a bat outta hell, across the street. Nick jumped in the car and tried to track her... he lost her a few blocks away in an alley behind a bunch of houses.

At this point, I hear what's going on... rush outside to look for her, just in case she's actually smart enough to find her way back to our house (highly doubtful... there are several inches of fresh snow on the ground, we live in a pretty congested area, and I don't think we've been here long enough for dear Lizzie to have a CLUE how to find her way home). I did catch a glimpse of her at one point... a few houses away. I yelled out to her... she looked at me... and took off again in the other direction. Dumb, dumb dog.

Nick drove around forever and came home dog-less. We've done a lot of chasing after Lizzie in the past two years... but she's never been gone this long or run this far from home. So it's not looking good.

Nick came back to the house and loaded me and the kids in the car with him... three more sets of eyes to help in the search. The last time he saw her, she was across the road in a whole other neighborhood, for Pete's sake... so he's thinking, if anything, we might find a brown spot in the road. He turned down the street where she was last spotted and told us all to keep our eyes open for her... I'm feverishly searching one side of the street and seeing no signs of Liz.

Then, about 30 seconds into our search, Damon (such a good boy) screams out from the backseat, "THERE SHE IS!" Squealing tires, Nick throws the car in reverse, opens the door, and Queen Lizzie hops in the car, wagging her stubby sorry-excuse-for-a tail.

It's really funny how you can detest an animal so much at times... I'm always screaming to Nick about what a pain in the butt she is and how I hate her... yet when you think said animal is lost and all alone outside in freezing temperatures and too dumb to find her way home, your heart sinks and you find yourself fighting back tears, imagining your home/family without the idiot dog. I figure it's a classic case of a love/hate relationship... and I have one of those with each of our pets.

I'm happy to report that Lizzie is, in fact, safe and sound at home this afternoon... in her crate, where she'll probably spend several hours. (I'm sure she'll understand the significance of THAT punishment, aren't you? because she's so smart and all...)